Latest tweets

Tag Archive: voluntary sector

The Prospects Trust is a well-established local charity working with people who have learning disabilities. They provide training and work opportunities in horticulture, organic market gardening, and off-site garden services. They were one of the runners-up in the National Lottery ‘People’s Millions’ competition in 2013.

Recent years have seen the Trust grow, not least in the number of co-workers assisted by personal support workers. The time was right in Autumn 2013 for staff and trustees to come together for a strategy workshop facilitated by Derrick Johnstone. Participants took stock of the current position of the Trust and its ethos, and considered its future direction as a social enterprise. Actions agreed included steps to strengthen business development and people management functions, necessary given the Trust’s expansion, and to provide greater opportunities for support workers to progress.

The East of England Faiths Council serves to enable the major faith traditions represented in the region to input to regional strategy and issues, act as a hub for information and advice for the sector, and more widely to promote the contribution of faiths to the life and wellbeing of the region. We evaluated the work of the organisation in 2008/09, undertaking stakeholder interviews and and an on-line survey. The Faiths Council built the recommendations into its business plan, important in the process of moving to a new legal structure and navigating its path through changes in the regional and local policy landscape. The Faiths Council celebrated its 10th anniversary in June 2012.

‘Mutual Advantage: Working with Voluntary and Community Organisations on Learning and Skills’ – Action research and case studies voluntary and community sector involvement in learning and skills, to help strengthen the sector’s role in partnership with Local Learning and Skills Councils. A DfES Education and Training Development Agenda project, with Hampshire, Sandwell and Wigan Training and Enterprise Councils.

South East Compact for Learning and Skills – research and development project for SE LLSCs and RAISE (the regional voluntary sector network) investigating progress being made by LLSCs and voluntary/ community sector against the key messages in the ‘Mutual Advantage’ report and facilitating the setting up of a compact and action plan relating to strategic engagement of the sector in the regional learning and skills agenda.

Mutual Advantage: Working with Voluntary and Community Organisations on Learning and Skills– report on research and development project in Hampshire, Sandwell and Wigan, on the opportunities and implications for the voluntary sector and the LSC of the new learning and skills agenda. Project report for Department for Education & Skills, published April 2001.It features:

Part 1 report, featuring key messages for Local Learning and Skills Councils and the voluntary sector, and lots of examples of capacity building and partnership working in practice ( pdf – 597 KB)

Part 2: case studies from project areas (Hampshire, Sandwell and Wigan) and other parts of the country (Birmingham, London, Norfolk and Yorkshire), and resources to help users review the roles voluntary organisations can play, strengthen partnership working and identify sources of funding for capacity building. ( pdf – 556 KB)

‘Mutual Advantage’ has been very widely used (with high numbers of downloads from Government websites in addition to the printed copies) and was influential in the subsequent development of policy and relationships between the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) and the voluntary and community sector.

Project to develop an evaluation framework for Rural Action East (RAE), the partnership body representing Rural Community Councils and rural community interests in the East of England, and assess its impact to date. The project sought to:

capture the ‘strategic added value’ that RAE brings to regional economic development and in particular delivery of the Regional Economic Strategy

articulate the impact that RAE has had in the region since its establishment, including benefits to rural communities

provide a clear focus for RAE’s strategic activities over the next three years, notably but not limited to engagement with EEDA, the regional dveelopment agency

This involved an assessment of the extent of RAE’s influence in its relationships with key partners, particularly EEDA, taking account the changing policy context at regional and national levels.

Benchmarking Voluntary Sector Engagement with the Learning and Skills Council 2005 – report reviewing the engagement of voluntary and community organisations with local Learning and Skills Councils in the South East – a follow up to the development of the South East Compact for Learning and Skills agreed by RAISE (the regional voluntary sector network in the South East) and the LSC.